Wagering games may be administered in pay-to-play (P2P) environments such as brick and mortar casinos and, where permitted, the Internet, as well as games in play-for-fun (P4F) environments such as entertainment-only offerings on the worldwide web or through applications downloaded to a device, such as a computer or mobile device. Conventional games include the card games blackjack, pai gow poker, Texas Hold 'Em, and the like.
When the game, such as blackjack, is hand-dealt with physical playing cards, electronic shoe devices, which are capable of reading the cards as they are dealt, generate data signals indicative of the cards used. These types of card dealing shoes are often referred to as “smart shoes.” An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,162,138, to Grauzer et al., titled “CARD-READING SHOE WITH INVENTORY CORRECTION FEATURE AND METHODS OF CORRECTING INVENTORY,” issued Oct. 20, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Integrated card shufflers and delivery shoes, which can shuffle (i.e., randomize playing cards) as well as identify the rank and suit of cards in the shoe and/or as assembled into individual hands may be used, such as described in U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2014/0346732, to Blaha et al., filed Aug. 11, 2014, and titled “CARD HANDLING SYSTEMS, DEVICES FOR USE IN CARD HANDLING SYSTEMS AND RELATED METHODS,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Accordingly, for games with physical cards, there are mechanisms to identify at least the cards in play during a game.
Hybrid game environments may use physical playing cards, but players may interface with the game through electronic terminals such as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0073417, to Castle et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 8,747,220, issued Jun. 10, 2014, titled “METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND APPARATUS FOR WAGERING GAMES INCLUDING PLAYER-BANKED SIDE BETS,” filed Sep. 12, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Such tables may also identify at least the cards in play utilizing a smart shoe, as described previously.
Cards games may also be administered virtually using displayed representations of playing cards in a brick-and-mortar gaming environment, at an electronic table, on a gaming machine, via a standalone computer application, or by interfacing with a web-based server. In these virtual games, the applications/server likewise can track and record the cards in play at the game.
For card games, providers such as casinos continually look to provide new games, enhance older games to refresh their appeal to players, and increase their revenues generated from the games. One way to do this is to offer side bet propositions. Certain side bet propositions have been developed for blackjack as well as other games, such as pai gow poker and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,981, to Ko, issued Jan. 25, 2005, titled “CASINO GAME METHOD PROVIDING A SIDE WAGER BASED UPON A DEALER'S HAND,” is an example. U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,041, to Jones et al. is another example of a side bet for a card game. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,486, to Franklin, issued Dec. 17, 1996, players may make a separate jackpot side wager in the game of pai gow poker. The side wager is won if the player's seven-card pai gow poker hand is of a certain poker rank. In these games, the award schedule is independent of the number of players playing the game. The pay table is the same whether one or eight players are playing the game. For example, in the game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,717, to Richardelle, issued Nov. 19, 2002, a player places a blackjack wager and a poker wager. The blackjack wager is resolved according to the traditional rules of blackjack. The poker wager is resolved by providing additional cards to the player to make a player poker hand for a total of five or seven cards and then the player's poker hand is resolved against a fixed, unchanging pay table. In the game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,486, to Franklin, issued Dec. 17, 1996, players may make a separate jackpot side wager in the game of pai gow poker. The side wager is won if the player's seven-card pai gow hand is of a certain poker rank. The disclosure of each of the foregoing patents and patent applications is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.